Letter from Bush Camp  (Crawford) deliverd by Texas State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson




August 25, 2004

Senator John Kerry

304 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510



Dear Senator Kerry,

We are pleased to welcome your campaign representatives to Texas today. We honor all our veterans, all whom have worn the uniform and served our country. We also honor the military and National Guard (search) troops serving in Iraq (search) and Afghanistan (search) today. We are very proud of all of them and believe they deserve our full support.

That's why so many veterans are troubled by your vote AGAINST funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, after you voted FOR sending them into battle. And that's why we are so concerned about the comments you made AFTER you came home from Vietnam. You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities - and, to this day, you have never apologized. Even last night, you claimed to be proud of your post-war condemnation of our actions.

We're proud of our service in Vietnam. We served honorably in Vietnam and we were deeply hurt and offended by your comments when you came home.

You can't have it both ways. You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it.

You said in 1992 "we do not need to divide America over who served and how." Yet you and your surrogates continue to criticize President Bush for his service as a fighter pilot in the National Guard.

We are veterans too - and proud to support President Bush. He's been a strong leader, with a record of outstanding support for our veterans and for our troops in combat. He's made sure that our troops in combat have the equipment and support they need to accomplish their mission.

He has increased the VA health care (search) budget more than 40% since 2001 - in fact, during his four years in office, President Bush has increased veterans funding twice as much as the previous administration did in eight years ($22 billion over 4 years compared to $10 billion over 8.) And he's praised the service of all who served our country, including your service in Vietnam.

We urge you to condemn the double standard that you and your campaign have enforced regarding a veteran's right to openly express their feelings about your activities on return from Vietnam.



Sincerely,

Texas State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson

Rep. Duke Cunningham

Rep. Duncan Hunter

Rep. Sam Johnson

Lt. General David Palmer

Robert O'Malley, Medal of Honor Recipient

James Fleming, Medal of Honor Recipient

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Castle (Ret.)

comment : It is a fiasco ....read this thread (strt at post 601) to get the picture

link here

Proud to live in the Duke's district.   A bastion of sanity here in California.

EDIT: Reading the link.  That's some John Titor shit there.

I need to move....

"I have a letter signed by nine members of the U.S. Senate, all of whom have served honorably and I'd like to hand it to a responsible officer here on the gate," Cleland said as he tried to deliver it to security personnel at the roadblock. He accused a member of the president's security detail of trying to evade him.

Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, left, and former Green Beret Lt. Jim Rassmann, center, approach a Secret Service Agent, right, on station at the check point to the entrance of President Bush (news - web sites)'s ranch Wednesday Aug. 25, 2004 in Crawford, Texas. Cleland tried to deliver a letter protesting ads challenging John Kerry (news - web sites)'s Vietnam service to President Bush at his Texas ranch Wednesday, but the Secret Service stopped Cleland short of his goal.

The tactics of the Kerry campaign sink to a new low (how low can they go) The really are desperate.

Pathetic.

Great response letter by the Bush camp.  Let me paraphrase it for you...Shove your attempted delivery up your $%#!

A Texas state official and Vietnam veteran, Jerry Patterson, said someone from the Bush campaign contacted him Wednesday morning and asked him if he would travel to the ranch, welcome Cleland to Texas and accept the former senator's letter to Bush.

"I tried to accept that letter and he would not give it to me," said Patterson. "He would not face me. He kept rolling away from me. He's quite mobile."

Patterson, who spoke with the president on the phone, said the campaign asked him to give Cleland a letter for Kerry written by the Bush campaign and signed by Patterson and seven other veterans.

"You can't have it both ways," the letter said. "You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up."

Great Letter..

James Fleming was a UH1 Huey troopship pilot supporting SOG missions...He was extracting a Recon Team when his Huey was shot to shit picking up the team....he picked up the team and landed at the base with empty fuel tanks..

The problem is that none of this makes the news that most people see.

Even foxnews.com has the big headline on their website "Cleland slams Bush over swift boat ads!!!"

Quoted: The tactics of the Kerry campaign sink to a new low (how low can they go) The really are desperate. Pathetic

+1

Dragging a crip (a mildly senile if not verifiably mentally retarded one at that!) in front of the camera in order to gain sympathy for ones cause is beyond low. What's the DNC doing, taking lessons from the Palestinians?!

Quoted: The tactics of the Kerry campaign sink to a new low (how low can they go) The really are desperate. Pathetic. Great response letter by the Bush camp.  Let me paraphrase it for you...Shove your attempted delivery up your $%#!

+1. Even Fox News reported that the Bush team tried to give a letter to Cleland and he refused so they refused to accept his letter. That's the way Fox put it. Kerry is getting so desperate.

Quoted: Quoted: The tactics of the Kerry campaign sink to a new low (how low can they go) The really are desperate. Pathetic +1 Dragging a crip (a mildly senile if not verifiably mentally retarded one at that!) in front of the camera in order to gain sympathy for ones cause is beyond low. What's the DNC doing, taking lessons from the Palestinians?!

Keeping it going -- it diverts attention from the real issue --Kerrys senatorial record-- which He knows he dosent want to talk about. He got elected and re elected to the senate under withering criticisim over his vietnam record, each time it caused a backlash that worked in his favor. Keeping this issue in the forefront with political publicity stunts like this make it look like Kerry wants to "move on" and talk about the issues but keeps them from actually having to do so. Also Bush cant call the swift vets and ask they pull the adds --if they do it will be portrayed as "see he is running them" if they dont then its portrayed as " see he didnt really want them to" or some other similar spin. Either way W loses --same as sending Max Cleland down for the photo op -- cant be mean or confrontational to a distinguished war veteran without backlash. Kerry knew when He sent Cleland to Tx that He had no appointment and was not expected and would not be admitted. He also knows He can pick up a phone at any time and call Bush, directly,and make his point but gets no photo op, no media play from that. I also noticed that the vietnam vet not in Clelands entourage who disputed some of the letter's points and shouted questions at Max was ignored by bothe Cleland and 99.9% of the press. Pure show.

Jerry Patterson is Da Man !   He was my state rep when he originated CCH here in TX.

Rip

Pathetic

So friggin pathetic that I find it highly encouraging.